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Swirlburn to St Lucia: Arbroath firm’s tropical tipper keeps on truckin’

The Angus firm's tipper is now on the roads of St Lucia.
The Angus firm's tipper is now on the roads of St Lucia.

A far-travelled truck is catching the eye of Angus ex-pats and tourists in the sunny climes of St Lucia.

Arbroath folk who have been lucky enough to find themselves on the Caribbean island have done a double take on seeing the six-wheeler from the well-known Geddes family firm.

The Geddes Group has its base at Swirlburn, just outside the Angus town.

The tropical island tipper was part of the fleet at the firm’s Markle Mains quarry in East Lothian, one of four quarries operated by the company.

Geddes was established in 1936 and is a leading Scottish name in areas including earthworks, demolition and quarrying.

Traded-in commercial vehicles from Scotland frequently find buyers in far-flung export destinations.

The 52-plate lorry was sold on a few years’ ago.

But the reliable Foden continues to look good and earn its keep for new owners more than 4,000 miles from its original home.

It has also been spotted by cruise ship passengers stopping off at the island.

The painted Swirlburn tartan ribbon remains on proud display.

Still bearing the Geddes name on its blue and white colour scheme, it also has the distinctive Swirlburn tartan ribbon painted on its front.

The truck’s appearance has drawn a bit of interest on the Foden Society Facebook page after being posted there.

However, staff at the Angus company will have to park any hopes they may have harboured around a switch to a sun-kissed satellite office in the Caribbean.

Sunny St Lucia is a little different to an Arbroath winter.

Other old Geddes lorries have made their way to countries including Malaysia and Ghana, where one was spotted laden with cocoa beans rather than previous loads of quarry stone.

Caribbean or Costa del Angus?

St Lucia has:

Average temperatures of around 30 degrees.

Gros Piton. A striking 2,619-foot peak on the island’s west coast.

Sugar beach St Lucia below Gros Piton.

Toraille waterfall. One of St Lucia’s most popular natural attractions.

A drive-in volcano. Around 200,000 visitors a year head into the crater of the dormant Qualibou volcano.

The Jacqout parrot. Also known as the St Lucia parrot, it became the national bird when the island gained independence in 1979.

(How angry is this Arbroath seagull that he isn’t a Jacqout in St Lucia…)

But St Lucia doesn’t have:

Bone-chilling North Sea spray drenching supporters on the terracing of Gayfield Park.

Smokies. The PGI-protected smoked haddock is seafood heaven.

The famous Arbroath smokie.

The Deil’s Heid. One of the many features on the Arbroath cliffs trail.

Pleasureland.  A seafront indoor funfair mecca for generations of waltzer-loving families.

Pleasureland sits on the Arbroath seafront.

Dick Campbell. The legend beneath the bunnet.

The rest of the Geddes fleet.